The long and bitter dispute between the Czech Institute for the Study of
Totalitarian Regimes and the European association of similar agencies came
to a head on Wednesday when the Czechs announced they were leaving the
Europe-wide network. Both sides quote several reasons behind the rift but
ideological as well as personal animosities seem to be at the core of the
squabble.

Photo: Tomáš Adamec
The Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes on Wednesday
fulfilled its threats and said it was quitting the Europe-wide association
it helped to establish.

The official reason given by the institute director, Pavla Foglová, is
that the network, dubbed Platform of European Memory and Conscience,
refused to back down on its January decision to suspend the Czech
institute’s membership over its alleged infiltration by former
Communists. Michal Uhl is a member of the institute’s supervisory body.

“They used the term ‘infiltration by Communists” which is very
strange rhetoric that I find difficult to accept. They suspended our
membership, which was in breach of their own statutes, using false and
deceiving arguments. We consider the whole matter a form of political
pressure.”

Czech MPs elected Michal Uhl along with three other people to the
institute’s council body in 2012 as an attempt to reform the agency and
shift its focus.

Michal Uhl, photo: archive of Radio Wave
Its primary task is researching the files of the former Communist secret
police and other security forces of totalitarian Czechoslovakia. But Mr Uhl
and his colleagues believe the role of the institute should be less prone
to ideology, and more open to different points of view.

Michal Uhl says that the European network’s managing director, Neela
Winkelmann, did not approve of the change in focus while she worked for the
institute in the past, which is one of the main reasons behind the row.

“The institute should not be an ideological tool for the interpretation
of history; instead, it should bring various interpretations of the past.
And I believe the origin of the conflict is that Ms Winkelmann did not
agree with the institute’s transformation and with the changes that came
when we joined the council.”

The platform’s managing director, Neela Winkelmann expressed regret over
the institute’s decision to quit the network, and said she hoped the
Czech agency would reconsider the move.

But she also says the institute’s attempt to shift away from its main
role was politically motivated, and is not something that will go down well
with the new Czech government.

“The leadership of the institute hails from the left side of the
political spectrum. However, the parliamentary elections turned out
differently and we now have a reasonably centrist coalition in power.

The institute is now in the process of choosing a new director to replace
Pavla Foglová which, Ms Winkelmann believes, could bring about a change of
course. Five candidates have applied for the post, and the winner should be
announced by the end of April.